Campaigners attended SCC’s cabinet meeting on Tuesday afternoon (February 2) to plea for Newlands Corner to remain "family-friendly and free to access" and urged councillors not to "monetise the countryside".

The council wishes to build a new visitor centre and café as well as introducing parking charges at the site.

Protesters against the plans claim the proposals will stop those of limited means from attending the beauty spot and will spoil the iconic views.

Sally Blake, from the Save Newlands Corner campaign and speaking on behalf of the nearly 9,000 people who signed a petition opposing the plans , said: “A commercial development with a coach park, huge café, shop and visitor centre, is not acceptable.

“It would change the unspoiled nature and sense of community of Newlands Corner which are its particular attractions. Building across the view would be as bad as vandalism.

“We believe it is wrong to spend £400,000 of taxpayers’ money on non-essential works, in this time of austerity.”

Miss Blake concluded: “We call on the county council to drop all its current proposals on Newlands Corner”

Councillor Mike Goodman, cabinet member for environment and planning, responding to the petitioners concerns the plans for Newlands Corner were not open and transparent, said: “Newlands Corner is a much loved area and what we want to do is make sure it is visited by people of all ages and all abilities.

"What we are planning in stage one is an educational play trail, I have seen all the designs of these and its on a website and you can go and look at all those.”

Cllr Goodman revealed the council is to hold public consultations on its plans.

These will be held on February 9, running from 3pm to 7pm at Albury Village Hall and on February 24 at Merrow Village Hall running from 3pm until 6pm.

"Also, regarding the exhibitions, nothing has been done to publicise this, as far as I am aware, no notices has been put up at Newlands Corner, and I was there on Sunday afternoon.

"This is the first time we have heard about these consultations.”

Miss Blake, speaking outside county hall, said: “I was not satisfied with the responses. There is no consideration of the parking charges at all, so many people will not be able to afford them in the future, they will just stop coming to Newlands Corner, there is not even any public transport to the site, it is very wrong.

“The commercial developments, they are talking about monetising the countryside, it is wrong.”

Asked whether she was concerned if the public consultations had been arranged with too little notice for the public to attend, Miss Blake said: “I was not worried about it because I didn’t even know about them and I am not sure if anyone else did either.

"It is not good and I said in my speech about the freedom of information requests we put in on December 17 and councillor Goodman said as far as he knew all those have been delivered to us and at 11.30am when I left home today nothing at all had been delivered to us under the freedom of information request.”